The writer and journalist
Josep Maria Espinàs
, author of an extensive work that includes novels, essays, travelogues, articles and memoirs, has died at the age of 95.
Born in Barcelona in 1927, he was a writer of various genres, a traveler inside and outside Catalonia, an opinion journalist, a television interviewer and a pioneer of the Catalan
Nova Cançó
movement , since he was one of the founders at the end of the 1960s. by
Els Setze Judges
.
His facet as a writer began in 1953, when he became known with the novel
Com ganivets o flames
(1954) and later with others such as
Tots som iguals
(1956) -which was translated into English and received rave reviews in
The New York
Times- ,
Combat de nit
(1959) and
L'últim replà
(1962).
He has also written a multitude of travel books, featuring the
A peu per
series , in which he toured the Catalan geography and the rest of Spain: he began in 1989 touring the
Terra Alta
region and ended in 2009 with a trip to
Murcia
.
From its more traveling side,
the Viatge al Pirineu de Lleida
(1957) and
Pels camins de cendra, al Berguedà cremat
(1994) also stand out.
In addition, he has published popular essays, children's stories, biographies and even songs;
among them, the
anthem of the Fútbol Club Barcelona
together with
Jaume Picas
.
PROMOTER OF THE NOVA CANÇÓ
As the promoter of the Nova Cançó, he was one of those who introduced and popularized the French
chanson
in Catalonia, especially thanks to the first album by Els Setze Jutges,
Espinàs sings Brassens
.
From then on, he sang in Catalonia for ten years, with songs marked by poetry and everyday life, in addition to founding the record label
Concèntric Promotora
and the live music venue
La Cova del Drac
, where he acted as presenter and singer-songwriter.
He also cultivated journalism, and between 1976 and 1999 he published a daily column in
Avui
, articles for which he received the Ciutat de Barcelona award in 1983. He also collaborated in other media, such as
El Periódico de Catalunya
.
That same year
TV3
was born , and in that decade his long interviews on the
Identitats
program with characters of all kinds that he considered prestigious or unique stood out;
some of them, anonymous to the public.
Among the awards he received are the Sant Jordi Novel Prize for
L'últim replà
(1962), the Creu de Sant Jordi de la Generalitat (1983) and the National Culture Prize of the Generalitat (1995).
His work has been translated into Spanish, Basque, English, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese and Czech, and since 1990 he has published his books in the
La Campana
publishing house , which he founded together with
Isabel Martí
, reports Europa Press.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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